Share this with

The year’s new wrestling game has some of the best action the series has ever seen, but is that enough to overcome the other flaws?

For a while there it looked like the WWE games were finally starting to get good again. Last year’s game still had a lot of room for improvement, but the fight engine was definitely the best it had been since 2K took over ownership of the series. That’s still true of this new game, and yet somehow the addition of new features and modes has managed to make the overall experience worse, not better. And so any hope that the series would finally get everything working together properly in the one game are dashed for another year.

The problem all sports games suffer from is that there’s rarely any proper justification for yearly sequels, beyond changing up the roster. FIFA in particular tends to make changes to its formula seemingly at random, just so it can say something has changed and to give you an excuse to buy it.

Advertisement

Advertisement

But that’s really not an issue for WWE. Last year may have seen a major step forward for the fighting system, but there are still major issues with most of the game modes. As well as missing features from the last generation games, that still haven’t been reinstated. That should have made the to do list for WWE 2K17 very clear and straightforward, but alas things are never that simple.

The unavoidable problem with making a wrestling game is that it’s not trying to simulate what the sport is really like, but what it is pretending it’s really like. And the more realistic video game graphics and controls become the more difficult that gets (which the more cynical might suggest is why WWE’s graphics have always looked a generation out of date). And yet the frustrating thing is that WWE 2K17 does grapple (sorry) with that problem surprisingly well, and although fight animations are often still fumbling and awkward it definitely gets the fundamentals right.

Reversals are now a key tactical decision, dependent on a fighting game style special bar – and not just a button to be bashed at random. The stamina of your wrassler has to be carefully monitored so as not to run out at a key moment, with working holds allowing you to catch your breath when it begins to drain. And new this year, rolling out of the ring becomes another important strategy, instead of just a bit of showboating.

Using melee weapons, like ladders and chairs, also works a lot better now, but knowing that the developers have spent time improving a detail like that is all the more frustrating when you discover what a bug-ridden mess anything outside of the actual wrestling is. Long-running problems with load times are more than just a minor inconvenience, because they not only slow the pacing to a crawl, and make you resent anything that isn’t straight action, but they discourage the use of otherwise welcome features such as Create-A-Superstar.

WWE 2K17 (PS4) – who wouldn’t want to wrestle Razor Ramon?

One of the key new features in WWK 2K17 is the Promo Engine, which is meant to allow you to create your own personalised video rant by picking different dialogue options. This is a neat idea, and having rivals respond in kind makes it seem like the sort of thing that should have been added years ago. But the dialogue is often nonsensical and although promos affect your popularity they seem to have no predictable effect on your roster standing. How that, and your friendships and rivalries with other wrestlers, is calculated is a mystery of internal game logic that Dark Souls would be proud of. Either that or it’s just another bug.

Advertisement

Advertisement

MyCareer mode is equally flawed, thanks to a wrong-headed attempt to add depth to its pseudo role-playing elements. But what this means in practice is that it takes hours of playtime before you can team-up with a proper named wrestler or unlock and use their signature moves. Which means grinding your way through endless, unwanted fights just to earn in-game currency.

At the same time, 2K Showcase has been quietly mothballed as an alternative, and replaced with Universe mode. In theory this is better as it allows much more customisation, but it’s even more incomprehensible in terms of what is actually supposed to be improving your standing. And together with the long loading times seems half broken as a result.

It’s true that WWE 2K17 does have more wrestlers than any other modern game, but that only makes it worse that between that and the competent fighting engine the definitive WWE game still seems further away than ever.

WWE 2K17

In Short: The forward momentum from last year’s improvements already seems to be faltering, as the weight of bugs and glitches ruin many of the new features.

Pros: The combat is as good as it’s been for years, with a few welcome new details such as improved out-of-the-ring action. Universe mode has promise, but is spoiled by long load times.

Cons: More bugs and glitches than ever, which ruin the promos and make the internal logic of rankings impossible to work out. Inconsistent graphics and presentation.